Downfall of Season Seven

Your Creamy Coolness said:
So Giles lived only cause people figured it out? That is weird. If I wrote something I would stick to it, not that I want Giles to die. It would have been shocking though.
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That's the rumor, anyway. I suppose they could've simply changed their minds, with fandom having nothing to do with it. But the reveal that he was not in fact dead and the explanation as to how he survived the Bringer's axe seemed a little sloppy to me, so it always seemed plausible enough to me.
 
I agree there was a lot left out in season 7, stuff we just have to put together in our own heads, but I am in love with season 7. I don't know what it is about it, but I put it on more so then other seasons. I have this thing where I watch season 1-7 and then back to 1 again, but during it, if I want a fix I start with season 7 on the side.
 
i just watched season seven again - i didn't skip an episode (which i sometimes do with other seasons) and i thought about some of the complaints that you commonly hear about it and as discussed above but i sort of came to this zen-like realisation that it didn't matter - that the story was complete and great despite the flaws. Even Angel's arrival didn't bother me this time (like it usually does - not because he appears but because he's just so darn cheery despite everything that has just happened to him in his own show!)
 
Tranquillity said:
Even Angel's arrival didn't bother me this time (like it usually does - not because he appears but because he's just so darn cheery despite everything that has just happened to him in his own show!)
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That was always something that bugged me too. It's a small gripe in the grand scheme of things, but I wish that he would've been a little more broody and a little less concerned with finding out his standing with Buffy.
 
some people complained similarly about willow when she comes over to angel in s7 of buffy. all this terrible stuff is going on with the first, plus she's coming over to stop angelus who has been released, and she's relatively cheery and making jokes and stuff.
 
Spirit_Of_Fred said:
some people complained similarly about willow when she comes over to angel in s7 of buffy. all this terrible stuff is going on with the first, plus she's coming over to stop angelus who has been released, and she's relatively cheery and making jokes and stuff.
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Well, I had quite a few problems with Season 4 of Angel as well, but I suppose that's a discussion for another forum. 😉
 
The first time I saw Season Seven, I wasn't too impressed. I was watching "Angel" Season Four around the same time and found its core storyline so much better, more developed and all the rest. On second viewing, I came to appreciate this final season much better. From the point of view of the Buffy/Spike storyline, this season is fantastic, though I disagreed with the decision to link Spike with the First. It paved the way for some good scenes and one particularly good flashback episode, but I felt it detracted from the significance of Spike getting a soul. As for the other main characters, I agree with the other posters here that they were sidelined somewhat. Wood was OK, but the Potentials were annoying. Most of them should have been killed by ubervamps before Giles could even get to them and he should have arrived in Sunnydale with just a small handful or so of survivors. The ubervamps themselves were a brilliant invention. They were like the next level of vampire. Caleb was also an interesting addition later on, the old misogynistic streak adding a touch of originality to the character. Never had a woman-hating preacher on the show before. As for the core storyline involving the First, well that doesn't really come together too well. The humour is good as always, though not as frequent as in previous seasons. Overall, it's not a "bad" season, but it's certainly flawed.
 
The 7th season was my least favorite season. There were a lot of unfinished plotlines and the potentials were, annoying. Also, I felt that some of the actors (Sarah) didn't seem to have the same passion with their characters then in previous seasons. Also the fact that all the potientials in the world were now slayers. I just thought it was kind of cheating. (However it worked very well in the end for the comics.)

Some of the episodes didn't really stick out to me as much as the other seasons' episodes. I can only really think of one episode that I would want to watch again and again in season 7 and that's Storyteller.

Maybe I should give this season another chance but I just thought it didn't meet Joss's usual standards. (I still love you Joss!)
 
Ok there are so many things in this thread I would like to respond do. For now, I'm mostly just going to respond to what the OP said.

I think my problem with season seven is there was entirely too much going on in one season which caused core issues to be thrown out the window
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I don't think there was too much going on per se, but I generally agree that the storyline seemed to jump around quite a bit.

Also I don't believe Willow being evil and then not evil was dealt with enough throughout the season. I mean I don't think there was enough of her dealing. Also I thought that the whole Willow and Kennedy thing, if it had to happen it happened TOO quickly
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I hadn't considered this before, about her new fling/relationship being too sudden. It makes sense, but on the other hand Tara is/was dead so maybe she figures why not move on? She's never coming back, and I think that Willow knows this girl could never replace Tara (nor could anybody else ever, for that matter)

I mean Tara wasn't even dead for a year yet and she was already shacking it up with somebody else, also nobody else really grieved the death of Tara which I thought was cruel.
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You have to bear in mind that Tara was very special to Willow, but nobody else. I mean sure, she was one of the scoobies and all, but remember how she didn't really *seem* to fit in initially and how they even had trouble deciding what gift to get her for her birthday? Trouble is, she simply hadn't been around since the very beggining. Don't get me wrong, her character really grew on me but honestly I didn't miss her too much when she was gone.

Also Xander and Anya didn't really have a place this season
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Right but after the whole marriage fiasco, what more was left for them to do?

And then the whole Spike thing, one day he's insane the next he's perfectly normal. I mean when did he gain his sanity back? I just think that whole introduction of the potentials threw everybody elses' storyline out the window. Really season seven was mostly about Buffy and the potentials, and everybody else was just back-up.
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Couldn't agree more on what you opine about Spike's supposed state of lunacy. He was entirely too crazy and irrational one minute and saying something normal the next, completely capable of rational thought. "I'm insane, what's his excuse"?

Err...what? I just don't see somebody suffering from existential-crisis/severe guilt-induced madness saying something like that. I think to truly be insane you'de have to be unaware of said insanity? On the other hand, it's Spike, and he's a vampire. Maybe he handles it differently. Still, kinda lame.

I also agree with what somebody else said about the potentials being annoying, and yes their introduction/incorporation into the storyline did kind of throw things off and cut off other potential (hehe) possibilities.

I am of the opinion that S-7 was actually quite good despite it's flaws. The only season I can truly say I didn't care for was the first. I purchased it once but never actually watched it in it's entirety until after I'd watched all the others. I was stationed in Iraq when I got into BVTS. I owned the first one and like I said never finished it, and someone let me borrow seasons 2-5, which I watched back to back. I was hooked by the second season, but in retrospect that would have to be my second least favorite. Idk too many cheesy lines, some of the monsters were kind of unbelievable. Or maybe it just doesn't have the replay value that seasons 3-7 has? I think that after a certain point the show just got better every season. In many ways S-7 appears to have done the show justice, when all is said and done it was a nice wrap-up. On the other hand, I did feel a but cheated in a certain way that is hard to describe, but that's because, come on who wants it to end? 😛
 
A
alexa
Hope you're reading season eight!
Brightside of a Dark Mind said:
I mean Tara wasn't even dead for a year yet and she was already shacking it up with somebody else, also nobody else really grieved the death of Tara which I thought was cruel.
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You have to bear in mind that Tara was very special to Willow, but nobody else. I mean sure, she was one of the scoobies and all, but remember how she didn't really *seem* to fit in initially and how they even had trouble deciding what gift to get her for her birthday? Trouble is, she simply hadn't been around since the very beggining. Don't get me wrong, her character really grew on me but honestly I didn't miss her too much when she was gone.
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part of the point of 'family' was to show how much everyone cared about tara, despite how long she was in the group, and how she was welcomed into it with open arms. when willow and xander had known buffy for only one year, they were still very close. as far as not knowing what to get her for her birthday, they had known her for less than a year at that point, and had not spent extensive amounts of time with her. after that episode, she spends much more time with all of them, and joins them at their parties and scooby meetings etc. they all felt close to her, and sometimes she was the one they chose to talk to or confide in. buffy talked to her about spike in s6, and about losing a mother in 'the body'. tara and dawn were also very close. dawn was very upset when tara left the summers house, and still spent time with her, like in 'smashed'.

and as far the reaction to her death in s7, i agree willow was the only one who really showed signs of grieving. everyone else felt sorry for willow, but didnt really seem to care that much themselves, other than when they first found her dead in s6. i dont think there should have been a whole arc of episodes where they all cry their eyes out, but with some of them less occupied at the beginning of the season, before the potentials and ubervamps show up, youd think they couldve at least found time to visit her grave or something, like willow did.

i dont consider this a major flaw in the season, but it is one of the smaller things that i find unrealistic, and dont like about it.
 
Spirit_Of_Fred said:
and as far the reaction to her death in s7, i agree willow was the only one who really showed signs of grieving. everyone else felt sorry for willow, but didnt really seem to care that much themselves, other than when they first found her dead in s6. i dont think there should have been a whole arc of episodes where they all cry their eyes out, but with some of them less occupied at the beginning of the season, before the potentials and ubervamps show up, youd think they couldve at least found time to visit her grave or something, like willow did.
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Something people need to realize is that when Season 7 starts, everyone but Willow has already had several months to visit Tara's grave and deal with her death. Tara was closest to Willow, and we see Willow's first visit after returning home; there's no particular need for us to see the others going through the motions that they logically and realistically would have done during the period between "Grave" (May) and "Lessons" (September.)

It's never really made clear as to exactly when Willow and Giles went to England, but the implication is that it was fairly shortly after the events of "Grave." I've wondered if she was even able to attend the funeral.
 
I'm really surprised that Season 7 is so unpopular among you guys. To be honest, season 7 was my favourite season. I loved all the episodes, but they could definitley use a touch of improvement. I found Rona and Kennedy the most annoying potential slayers, while the rest I didn't mind. I'm also surprised that every1 hates the potentials so much.
 
There IS a lot wrong with season 7. Kennedy/Willow sucks, and is too quick as well. Dawn and Xander don't have anywhere near enough to do, whereas Spike arguably has a bit too much. The Potentials make a good story idea but not such good characters. The Sunnydale High being rebuilt ended up pretty much completely pointless (and I think they wasted the set, when I would have preferred to have kept the Magic Box). And yes, there isn't enough of the 'core group'.

That said, while almost certainly the weakest season of Buffy, it's still brilliant and better than pretty much anything else on tv (including most of Angel). So I can't be too hard on it, and it does get better on repeat viewing.
 
codyw1 said:
There IS a lot wrong with season 7. Kennedy/Willow sucks, and is too quick as well.
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Everybody keeps saying this, but the Willow/Kennedy relationship moves no faster than the Willow/Tara relationship did. :lmao: It's like looking at a blue wall and seeing orange...
 
i have to admit it did skip some great possiblitys they had like the speech buffy gave "they want an apocalyse well we'll give em one" and i was like woah bring on the fun and then in the next episode it kinda got dropped and buffy's fight wth the ubervamp could have been better and there were a lot of people they could have used for the first but they never looked in to it and the only reason giles was considered for being dead was because every season antony head would ask joss can i be evil this season the wasted a lot of brilliant oputunities and they should have done another season and buffy smiling at the end? i was like spike just died how can you smile?
 
I know I kind of felt, when I first saw season 7, like they had enough "story" for two more seasons and then decided to cram it into one, instead.

I felt like it was rushed. Like giving someone a commercial break to explain the last 10 years of a soap opera I hadn't kept up with.

I felt like I didn't get to "know" the potentials like I should have. I too, didn't like Kennedy and Willow. I might have. But, I wasn't given any time to. I felt like they showed up and died and I didn't even catch their names, sometimes.

And I felt like Buffy's annoying "speeches" were ways to kind of try and get me up to speed, but it wasn't working.
I felt like they dragged out the whole "Spike's Insane and Why" for too long. Which is odd for me to say because I like Spike. But, I could have dealt with less of that and more about the downfall of the counsel, more about the potentials, maybe spent more time on the way to make them all real slayers. Since I watched all of Angel before I watched any Buffy, I knew what was coming with the potentials, but I don't think there was enough "build up" to it. Kind of just....go Willow, do it, SHE DID IT....YIPPEE!
I would have liked more of an explanation....or maybe a different way to do it. I don't know. It was just a little anti-climactic

I DO LIKE season 7, I just felt like there was more story than there was time.
 
i agree with whoever said it reminded them too much of Angel. it didn't feel like a Buffy season at all. Thats not to say i don't like it, but it certainly feels SO misplaced among all the other season, which i guess was originally my biggest turn off. But going through it again, Andrew really saved a lot of episodes from being way too dark and dry. And i liked Wood, despite trying to off Spike and all. and all i could think with the first few episodes was man, i wish my high school principal was like that! tough but really cool and approachable.
 
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